Autor: Eduardo Chacón-Madrigal

Se evaluó el uso de hábitat de murciélagos insectívoros en cinco parques urbanos de San José, Costa Rica. Se realizaron 3 sesiones de monitoreo acústico durante 3 noches, entre las 18:00–19:30 h. Se obtuvieron 457 registros acústicos (402/parques grandes; 44/parques pequeños; 11/controles). Los parques fueron sitios de mayor riqueza y actividad que aquellos sitios carentes de vegetación (controles). No hubo diferencia significativa en el número de especies entre parques pequeños y grandes; sin embargo el uso difirió entre las especies significativamente. Los parques no sustituyen las condiciones de bosques naturales pero son importantes para mantener la diversidad remanente de murciélagos.

Use of vegetated urban parks by insectivorous bats in San José, Costa Rica. We evaluated habitat use of insectivorous bats in five urban parks in San José, Costa Rica. Three sessions of acoustic monitoring were carried out for three nights, between 18:00–19:30 h. A total of 457 recordings (402/large parks, 44/small parks, 11/controls) were obtained. Large parks were sites of greater richness and activity than those lacking vegetation (controls). There was no significant difference in the number of species between small and large parks; however, the park use differed significantly between species. Parks cannot replace natural conditions but are important for maintaining the remaining diversity of bats in urban sites.